Vowell’s ‘Partly Cloudy Patriot’ was featured in 2006 IU Northwest community reading program; campus set to choose featured text for 2007 this semester

As part of the third annual IU Northwest College of Arts and Sciences Student and Faculty Research Conference, the campus is pleased to host Sarah Vowell, best-selling author of “The Partly Cloudy Patriot” and “Assassination Vacation.” Vowell will deliver the conference’s evening keynote address at 6 p.m. on Nov. 9 at the Savannah Center Auditorium. The event will be followed by a book signing and reception.

Vowell is widely hailed as one of the finest of today’s generation of young writers. Her work is a lively mixture of history, pop culture and witty personal observations about the current state of things in America. “The Partly Cloudy Patriot,” Vowell’s best-selling 2002 collection of essays, unites the author’s thought-provoking social and historical commentary with her entertaining personal recollections; her 2005 book “Assassination Vacation,” meanwhile, is a weird, whimsical yet insightful treatment of America’s first three successful presidential assassinations and their lingering impact on our cultural imagination.

Vowell is also a contributing editor and performer on National Public Radio’s “This American Life,” and she has made numerous appearances on “Late Night with David Letterman,” The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart, and other television venues. Vowell also voiced teen superhero Violet Parr in the blockbuster 2004 animated comedy “The Incredibles.”

The community is encouraged to attend Vowell’s presentation, which will include live readings from her works. An autograph session and reception will follow.

Vowell’s appearance caps this year’s “Reading in the Region” initiative at IU Northwest, for which “The Partly Cloudy Patriot” was selected as the featured discussion text. “Reading in the Region” is a program in which campus and community members read a text and discuss it in a series of meetings sponsored by the IU Northwest Office of Academic Affairs.

The “Reading in the Region” selection committee will announce the featured book for 2007 by the end of the fall semester. Once the book has been decided upon, a series of open discussion forums will be scheduled and announced to the community. IU Northwest encourages readers across Northwest Indiana to join the campus community as we explore the value and magic of reading.